I bet if we had to choose the representative municipality of the world for our time, we’d choose New York, London, or Tokyo. It may actually take us quite some time to go down the list to the capital of Azerbaijan. Baku serves as the model in the journal report “Planning of sustainable cities in view of green architecture.” While Baku may be overlooked as an influential urban area, particularly by those of whom reside in the United States, urban and environmental planners could learn a lot from the pioneer city.
The first noteworthy environmental improvement taken upon by Baku was the incorporation of more green and recreational space within the city. The chart with the breakdowns of what the recreational space is used for shows how in just six years the city managed to increase its green space area by 20%. To be fair, when looking at this comparison we have to look at the feasibility of redeveloping space in Baku compared to New York. Baku’s population stands at about 2 million people, but is completely dwarfed by New York’s 8.5 million strong. Just by comparing populations, the challenges of incorporating more green space, let alone 20% more, are not negligible. One way of going about immense green space rezoning is to redevelop certain areas, especially those affected by Hurricane Sandy, into natural buffers or parks. By doing this, the city can minimize property loss and casualties while reaping the benefits of having a more ecologically balanced city.
The other noteworthy point made in the article was how Baku is engaged in reclaiming some of the industrial neighborhoods and how it approaches industrial development. This initiative is very similar to how New York has been approaching it’s long-time abandoned and neglected neighbors. By following this example, New York shows how in at least some ways that it has the potential to be more environmentally balanced going forward. In addition, the city’s approach to rezoning is crucial in making land usage more efficient and balanced.
